-
ON BEING
They arrive unannouncedoften not seen untilthey have been among usand won’t say howor when they arrived.Some claim to have seentheir arrival as theyhave seen other visitorsvisible only to them,and predict their departurewith a certainty bornof a delusion or a sensebeyond the understanding.Others say that theare merely us in masquerade,it is we who are deludedfor there…
-
APPROACHING
The perfect time of dayoccurs only as the deadof night approaches, thatmoment when the heartof the city falls almost silent. In smaller cities this momentis protracted, arising as the moonreaches toward full expressionand such as pass for tallbuildings settle into sleep. In the great cities, thosethat claim never to sleep,the city reverberates, echoingoff the endless…
-
ARE YOU CRAZY?
The birds look at us as though we had two heads. They cannot, they say, comprehend how we can stand to live in boxes, to travel in metal containers, to be stuck forever to the ground. They say that food should be picked then eaten instantly, not packaged and half thrown away. They say they…
-
SEIJO’S SOUL 無門關 三十語
Open your mouthand let your soul fleeon the dance of your departing breath. Inhale slowly, leta different soulfind purchase in your lungs. Both souls are your soul,neither soul is yours,but is it the moonor an obscuring cloud? A reflection on case 35 of the Mumonkan (Gateless Gate Koans)
-
FINITE LOOP
As it turns out, lifeis an ongoing process of accretionand deconstruction, of growthand eventual shrinkage. I started with 20 teethI am told, and got to 32,only to fall back to 23thanks to orthodontia and wear. We start with 270 or morebones, but we knit that numberdown to 206, or in my case under200, the orthopaedist’s…
-
BANDAGE
She wants to know if it is even possibleto make a bandage large enoughto bind the wounds we have inflictedon a planet which we were toldwas ours over which we wereto exercise our wise dominion. She says it isn’t fair that she will beleft to try to clean up the messthat we have made for…
-
GRANDCHILD
You more easily rememberthe birth of a grandchildthan his or her parent whether from a memorysharpened by ageor regular sleep or by a visionmore acute for knowingwhat to look for, or simply a clingingtightly to any symbolof youth denied you. It may be as wellthat grandchildren seeyou differently than parents a hope for a long…
-
MINDFUL(L)
The Buddha said that any task you doif done mindfully is a sort of meditation.We assume he said it, we’ve been toldhe did, but no one I know was anywherenear that bodhi tree, so we take it on faith.When it comes to things like choppinglarge quantities of onions, or roastingcoffee beans I totally get it,…
-
JOSHU PLANS A VISIT 鐵笛倒吹 十九
If Joshu asks youwhich is the true eyewill you climb to the topof the mountainin search for it?There are a thousand mountainswhere Manjushri may dwellstaring out at the world—how will you know which one?A cloud mayreflect your sightsimplifying all. A reflection on case 19 of the Iron Flute Koans
-
BARDLESS
Laertes was supposed to visit mein my dreams last night,but Iago texted that they bothwere suddenly otherwise engaged. There is a strong possibility, of coursethat this was just another instanceof Marlowe trying to wreak havocwith my ever more precious sleep. Tomorrow I will recall none of thisfor the day ereases my dreamsmuch as the sun…
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
an old writer and his words 